Study: Brooklyn has most traffic deaths in the city

An advocacy group is calling for speed cameras in Brooklyn to curb traffic deaths. Credit: Getty Images

Brooklyn has the highest rate of traffic deaths in the city, and an alarming number of motorists drive faster than the speed limit in the borough, a new study shows.

According to the report by the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, a total of 79 Brooklyn residents were killed in traffic crashes in 2011, and 23,000 others were injured.

Queens followed with 67 fatalities in 2011, the Bronx had 65, Manhattan had 45 and Staten Island only had 12 fatalities.

The group tracked the speed of drivers in Bay Ridge, Canarsie, Greenpoint and Midwood, and found 88 percent of surveyed motorists drove at unlawful speeds, and 30 percent of those drivers traveled at 10 miles per hour or more over the posted 30 mph limit.

"With speeding motorists driving the number of traffic deaths in Brooklyn ahead of every other borough, the need for speeding enforcement cameras is clearer than ever," said Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives.

The group said that it clocked more speeding drivers in a 12-hour period than the police department ticketed in all of 2011. Brooklyn precincts issued 2,093 speeding violations in 2011, according to Transportation Alternatives.

According to the group, speeding is the leading cause of fatal crashes and kills more New Yorkers than drunk drivers and drivers on cell phones combined.